Years
People, events and movements related to the 15th through 21st centuries
Are We Headed for Another Dust Bowl?
The devastating drought of the 1930s forever changed American agriculture. Could those conditions return?
November 16, 2012 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Fight that Wouldn’t Stay Fixed
How an apparent misunderstanding led to a brawl that turned into a donnybrook that became a legend
November 15, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Geronimo’s Appeal to Theodore Roosevelt
Held captive far longer than his surrender agreement called for, the Apache warrior made his case directly to the president
November 09, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Uncovering the Truth Behind the Myth of Pancho Villa, Movie Star
In 1914, the Mexican rebel signed a contract with an American newsreel company that required him to fight for the cameras. Too good to be true? Not entirely
November 06, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The Speech That Saved Teddy Roosevelt’s Life
Campaigning for president 100 years ago, Roosevelt was spared almost certain death when 50 pieces of paper slowed an assailant’s bullet headed for his chest
November 2012 |
By Patricia O'Toole
The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism
Their seances with the departed launched a mass religious movement—and then one of them confessed that "it was common delusion"
October 30, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons
Why was Goody Garlick, accused of witchcraft in 1658, spared the fate that would befall the women of Massachusetts decades later
October 26, 2012 |
By John Hanc
A Halloween Massacre at the White House
In the fall of 1975 President Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts and a car accident. Then his life got really complicated
October 25, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Sophie Blanchard – The High Flying Frenchwoman Who Revealed the Thrill and Danger of Ballooning
Blanchard was said to be afraid of riding in a carriage, but she became one of the great promoters of human flight
October 18, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Traumatic Birth of the Modern (and Vicious) Political Campaign
When Upton Sinclair ran for governor of California in 1934, new media were marshaled to beat him
October 11, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?
The true story behind the myth of Mrs. O'Leary and her cow and how the scapegoating ruined one woman's good name and spawned a folk song that would last for decades
October 04, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine
Mao Zedong encouraged critics of his government—and then betrayed them just when their advice might have prevented a calamity
September 26, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Copper King’s Precipitous Fall
Augustus Heinze dominated the copper fields of Montana, but his family's scheming on Wall Street set off the Panic of 1907.
September 20, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Blazing Career and Mysterious Death of “The Swedish Meteor”
Can modern science determine who shot this 18th century Swedish king?
September 17, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The Unknown Story of "The Black Cyclone," the Cycling Champion Who Broke the Color Barrier
Major Taylor had to brave more than the competition to become one of the most acclaimed cyclists of the world
September 12, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Ugliest, Most Contentious Presidential Election Ever
Throughout the 1876 campaign, Tilden’s opposition had called him everything from a briber to a thief to a drunken syphilitic
September 07, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
“Murder Wasn’t Very Pretty”: The Rise and Fall of D.C. Stephenson
The Grand Dragon of the Klan and prominent Indiana politician had a vicious streak that had horrifying consequences
August 30, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
That Time a German Prince Built an Artificial Volcano
When a 18th century German prince visited Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, he insisted on building a replica of it on his estate back home. 200 years later, a chemistry professor brings it back to life
August 30, 2012 |
By Andrew Curry
The Neverending Hunt for Utopia
Through centuries of human suffering, one vision has sustained: a belief in a terrestrial arcadia that offered justice and plenty to any explorer capable of finding it
August 28, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The Smoothest Con Man That Ever Lived
"Count" Victor Lustig once sold the Eiffel Tower to an unsuspecting scrap-metal dealer. Then he started thinking really big
August 22, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
